One of the biggest challenges any small business faces, is getting their online fans to communicate, chat and share your brand with other people. Luckily, there are some surefire ways to get them to do this! Today, I’m going to teach you 10 pro methods of getting your social media fans buzzing with chatter.

Courtesy of locankinsella.com

#1: Strip All of Your Unique Images

Whether you’re on Pinterest, Flickr or your blog, all of your unique images should be stripped with your business name and URL. That way if the pic gets shared or goes viral, you benefit!

#2: Get Personal on Pinterest

Take some photos of yourself and your employees and encourage interaction by being engaging and open. Start your own Q&A sessions on Pinterest, and you’ll see!

#3: Host a 5+ Person Live Tweet Session

Invite people to join in on your live tweet session. Get a few employees to tweet along with you to encourage chatter. Select a hashtag that will work, and promote it online.

#4: Talking Head Videos as Customer Service Answers

Record videos of yourself, or a team member, answering customer questions, or solving problems in your niche. Videos always get a lot of comments if you syndicate them.

#5: Facebook App Trivia in Your Niche

There’s one way to keep your Facebook fans talking and returning, and that’s with a custom Facebook trivia app. Come up with 500 questions based on your niche, and promote your app!

#6: Linkbait Posts For Your Blog

In the pro blogging niche, a linkbait post is a controversial or highly interesting post that is designed to get people talking, sharing, liking and syndicating. Do at least 1 a week.

#7: Record a Google+ Video Session

Invite experts in your niche to a video session on Google+. Record the session, which should be interesting, informative and enlightening. Then publish the video on Youtube.

#8: Publish Expert Insights in Your LinkedIn Mails

Invite your LinkedIn group to come up with great quotes for your community. Then publish the best ones each month, in your LinkedIn mailers. People will love it.

#9: Run Contests For Real Prizes

Run contests as often as you can – they always inspire chatter! Just remember that people either want a massive prize, or massive exposure, so give them at least one to secure a viral effect for your contest.

#10: Tap Into Tech With Scavenger Hunts

If you have a network of websites, create interesting clues on each of them – like a trail of breadcrumbs, to lead your fans to a discount coupon, or a fun freebie. People will love the process, and that’s what they’ll chat about. It’s a great way to collect email addresses.

Any one of these great ideas can get your fan’s tongues wagging. As long as you’re engaging them outside your pages, as well as on your pages – you’ll be able to insight some chatter. Incentives though, do tend to get people moving.

How do you inspire your social media communities to chat with each other, or about your brand? I’d like to know.